


Wall-e

by petra_austria



Category: Benedict Cumberbatch - Fandom, Cumberfluff - Fandom, Patchwork - Fandom, Patchwork Family, family - Fandom
Genre: Baby, Cute, F/M, Family, daddy - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-06
Updated: 2014-05-15
Packaged: 2018-01-23 19:30:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 19,463
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1576946
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/petra_austria/pseuds/petra_austria
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Maggie really needs a place to stay with her little baby boy Wallace. That's when she meets Benedict at Heathrow airport, who is happy to help her out. He just wants to be a good person and help another person in need, but this arrangement turns out to be so much more than a good deed...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Benedict watched the bags and suitcases travel by on the conveyor belt, making their rounds on the little carousel. He already had his bag but liked the calm moments before he went out where paparazzi already awaited him. That’s when he overheard the telephone conversation a woman was having at the luggage conveyor belt next to his.  
“Andrea, please don’t do this to me, you know I need you now. You know why I came all the way, please don’t do this…Wally, stay in your stroller, please”, she said and pushed the little boy back down that was about to climb out of his little seat. She turned away and kept talking into her mobile phone. “And where do you think I should stay? You know I’m basically broke. It stays and falls with you, I DEPEND on you, Andrea”, she said and her voice started to shake. The sad and helpless tone in her voice kept Benedict staring and kind of made him wanting to go over and to check on her, although he had never met her before.  
She was all caught up in the conversation, that’s why she didn’t notice that Wally just jumped out of his stroller and started wandering around. His legs were shaky and his steps uncoordinated, it didn’t look like he knew how to walk for long. He couldn’t be older than 1,5 years. Benedict kept an eye on the little guy while the distance between him and apparently his mother got bigger and bigger.  
It was the middle of the day and Heathrow airport was crammed with people. Wally got way to close to the luggage conveyor belt where people pulled down suitcase and could easily hit him. After a quick look to the woman who was still on the phone and seemed very angry and in a wild discussion, it took Benedict only a blink of an eye to decide to go over there.  
He picked up the little boy when he was about to climb onto the conveyor belt. “Whoa there, little man. I believe you’re not a suitcase”, he said to him, smiling as friendly he could to not scare the little kid. He just stared at Benedict and back down to the conveyor belt and then he pointed there and said, “Bag.” “Yes, there are a lot of bags. They belong to the people who came on the plane with you”, he explained. Wally was really cute and he had big blue-greenish eyes.  
“We better get you back to your mommy before she gets scared”, he said to him. Just then, he heard, “Wally? WALLY?! Where are you? Oh my god!” In the next second the woman came through the crowd, her eyes frantically searching the area. She looked on the floor because she didn’t think of the possibility that someone could have picked him up.  
“I think this little boy belongs to you”, Benedict said while walking towards her. “Oh my god, Wally”, she said and practically ripped him out of Benedict’s hands. “Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god”, she kept saying and held Wally close to her chest. “You can’t do this to me, mommy’s heart almost stopped, I was so scared”, she said to him, trying to keep her voice down. Wally just played with her necklace, not understanding what the fuzz was about, he was just walking around a bit.  
“Thank you so much for taking care of him”, she said after realizing that someone was still standing in front of her. Benedict waved his hand. “No problem, kids are fast, they easily get lost at such a place”, he said, not reproaching her. “Do you have kids?”, she asked. “No, sadly not”, he said, honestly looking sad. Somehow she liked that about him.  
“I’m Maggie”, she said, sticking her hand out. “Benedict”, he took her hand and shook it. “And this is Wallace”, she nodded to her son in her arms. “Hello Wallace, I’m Benedict”, he introduced himself also to the little boy, who kept staring at him interested. “I need to get back to my stuff before someone nicks it. Thanks again for saving my little boy”, Maggie said and turned around. Benedict hesitated for a second but then went after her. “Are you okay?”, he asked. She turned to him again. “What do you mean?”, she asked, looking confused. “I could not help but overhear you conversation earlier. Are you in trouble?”, he asked. For some reason he wanted to know her and Wally safe. Now it was for her to hesitate for a second. She put Wally down in his stroller and fastened the little belt attached to it. At first she didn’t want to say anything, didn’t want to burden him with her problems. But he seemed like a nice and genuine guy; maybe he knew a way out of her situation for now.  
“Actually, the friend I was supposed to stay at just cancelled on me and I don’t have much money if I want my kid to eat something tonight. So if you know any place that’s cheap and free, I would actually feel much better”, she said, shouldering her bag and pulling out the handle of her trolley.  
“I actually know a place for you two to stay at. You can stay at my place”, he said without thinking about it. Maybe it was his protective instinct or he just liked her somehow, but he suggested it without hesitating for a second.  
Maggie looked at him with a mixture of surprise and shock. “But you don’t know me”, she said. And she certainly didn’t know him. Could she just bring her son in a house of a total stranger she just met at an airport? Was she really that desperate? Yes, actually she was.  
“Christ, that’s really nice of you, REALLY nice, but I can’t accept that”, she declined his offer unwillingly. “It’s really no problem, I wouldn’t do it if it was”, he renewed his offer. “You don’t know what it’s like living with a little kid, even if it’s just for one night”, she said, fighting with herself on the inside, if she should just give in. “Or a few days more”, he added. “Normally I wouldn’t do this, but I’m really desperate”, she said, tapping her fingers on the handles of the stroller. Wally followed the conversation between the two grown-ups with quite some interest. He liked the man, he looked funny and nice.  
“Then it’s decided”, Benedict said. “Let’s meet at parking level C 2 in about 30 minutes. I need to arrange some things”, he suggested. “If it’s too much trouble then…”, Maggie wanted to bring him off the decision. “No, no, don’t worry about it. 30 minutes, okay?”, Benedict said and put his hand on her shoulder to comfort her. “Okay”, she gave in, happy inside that she and Wallace had a place to stay for the night. Benedict smiled at her before he left. He quickly went past the paparazzi on the other side of the arrival area. If he had walked here with Maggie, there would have been all kinds of weird and crazy stories about the three of them.  
He went to the car rental agency and asked for a child safety seat for his car. He had to wait a while, hurried then back to his car to install it and then went back to the entrance for parking level C 2 to pick up Wally and Maggie. “Hope you didn’t have to wait long”, he said while approaching them. “For a second I thought you had left, to be honest”, Maggie confessed and felt bad for thinking that about Benedict. She didn’t know him and he did such a gracious thing for her and Wallace. “Please excuse my delay, I had some trouble installing the car seat for Wallace. I’m not quite an expert on that field”, he said smiling. Maggie was astonished by the fact that he had thought about a car seat for her son.  
“Let me take your luggage”, he said and without waiting for an answer, he just grabbed the handle of her suitcase and took off to his car. Maggie followed just a few steps behind him. Benedict opened the trunk of his car with his transmitter while approaching it. He put Maggie’s bag next to his while she took Wally out of his stroller and then he put it in his trunk as well.  
“On the left side”, he said when she looked for the car seat. “Look at that Wally, your own seat in Benedict’s car. Isn’t that cool?”, she said while putting him in and closed the belts attached to it. She feared that he might start to cry or didn’t want to sit on his own, but until now, Wallace was quite okay with the whole situation. “Do you want to sit with him or in the front?”, asked Benedict behind her and it scared her a bit that he stood so close. But she couldn’t decide if it was a bad scare or a good one.  
“I think I can sit in the front, Wallace looks quite happy”, she said and smiled at her son. Benedict opened the car door for her and she got in. Maggie took a deep breath while Benedict went around the car to the driver’s seat. “Mommy will figure something out, Wally. I promise you, we will be fine”, she said and turned around to him. Wallace just looked at her and seemed more confident than she was. Little Wally, didn’t know nothing about the world and it better stayed that way for quite a time. He will have to deal with reality soon enough.  
Benedict got in his car and started the engine. He had one of those big SUV’s and Maggie felt quite safe inside. People always said, if you’re in an accident, you better be on the side of the SUV. They drove quietly for a few minutes. “I’m sorry, but I just have to ask. Are you really sure you want to do this? I mean, it’s really nice of you, but don’t feel pressured just because I have a kid”, Maggie said. She didn’t want him to quit his plans, but she at least wanted to give him the chance. “Maggie please, don’t worry about it. I wouldn’t have offered it if it was too much. And Wallace seems fairly okay with it”, Benedict said after a quick check of the rearview mirror. Maggie turned around to find her son staring out the window, discovering the streets of London.  
Benedict drove through Hampstead, the well situated part of London, and parked in front of a beautiful town house. Maggie was overwhelmed by its sight. This all felt a bit like a Cinderella story. Benedict, her prince and saviour, gorgeous and nice, comes to save her and her son from their dismal situation they called life right now. Sadly, it would only last for probably two days and then he would be sick of her and Wallace and would be glad to see them go. She just knew she had to figure something out, quick.


	2. Chapter 2

“Here we are. That’s where I live”, he said, turning the engine of the car off. Maggie turned around to find Wallace asleep. Benedict turned around too and smiled. Wallace looked so cute while asleep. “You take him, I’ll take our luggage”, he whispered and got out. Maggie was bit irritated by his words. “Our luggage”, like they were a family coming home from the holidays. She shook it off and got out the car to get Wally. She slowly and cautiously removed the belts from his body and took him out of his seat.  
Meanwhile, Benedict got his bag, Maggie’s suitcase and Wallace’s stroller out of the trunk of his car. Being that packed, it wasn’t easy opening the door to his house, but somehow he managed to. Maggie got in right behind him. He put down the luggage and closed the door behind them. “Can you show me a place where I can put him down for now?”, she asked whispering. “Yes, you can put him in the guestroom. Come on, I’ll show you the way”, he said, stripped off his shoes and went up the stairs. Maggie slipped out of her shoes too and followed him quickly. Benedict led her to the room. “You can lay him down, I’ll wait downstairs”, he said and left.  
Maggie laid him down, took off his shoes and his jacket carefully. She built up a wall of pillows around him and sat down for a moment. So this is it. She was on the run with her son, in the bedroom of a stranger, literally having NO idea where she would go from here. At least Wallace seemed happy and she would make all possible efforts to make it stay this way as long as possible.  
She gave him a kiss, closed the door and went down. Benedict just ended a phone call. “Good news, a friend of mine, who has two boys of his own, still has a cot he could give us”, he said while Maggie came towards him from the stairs. “You didn’t have to do this, you’re going through too much trouble. Wallace and I won’t stay here for too long, two…three days tops”, she said. His efforts made her feel uncomfortable. Nobody has ever done so much for her and her son, especially when they didn’t know her.  
“Please Maggie, stop saying that. I decided to take you and Wallace into my home because you needed a place to stay and I’m happy to help. Just accept it, okay?”, he said, holding her by her shoulders in front of him. Besides his words, she didn’t know how to feel about his touch. She hadn’t been touched like this for a long time and she was missing it. “If you don’t mind staying alone for a while, I would pick it up right now”, he said and removed his hands. For a second she missed them.  
“No, ehm, no, I don’t mind. And I’m not alone, I’ve got Wallace”, she said smiling and scratched the skin behind her right ear. “Okay, then…I’ll get going. Just feel like home and get comfortable”, he said, putting on his shoes and grabbed his keys. He left with a little wave at Maggie and closed the door behind him. He got into his car and just sat there for a moment. He stared on his hands on the wheel and took a deep breath. “What did I get myself into?”, he asked himself. He knew himself too well to even try to deny that he developed some kind of feelings for Maggie, even considering the short amount of time he knew her. He shook his head and started the car.  
Maggie was still standing in the hallway and didn’t know what she was going to do now. She thought, if he was so nice to let them stay, the least thing she could do was clean, but he seemed to have a cleaning lady who took care while he was gone. She wandered through his house, feeling like a burglar. She shook it off quickly and opened the windows. What she needed for now was some fresh air. She went in the kitchen and opened the fridge. Maybe she could cook something for the three of them, but it was practically empty, except for some water bottles. She took one, took a sip of the cold water and kept on exploring the house with the bottle in her hand. She stopped in the middle of the hallway upstairs. She felt like she was invading his home, so she checked on Wallace who was still asleep and still IN the bed, and then went downstairs and sat herself on the couch. She could just as well watch some TV.  
Time went by and when she heard his keys in the door, she realized, after a quick check of the clock on the little table next to her, that he had been gone for almost three hours. “Hello?”, he asked. For a second, he feared that she could have left and weirdly enough that thought scared him. “Hey, you’ve been away long…oh wait, let me get that”, she came around the corner and just then he heard that the telly was on. Maggie took the two shopping bags out of his hands. “Thank you, the cot and some other things are still in the car. I’ll quickly get them”, he said and was gone through the door. She brought the bags in the kitchen and started unpacking them. Meanwhile he placed the cot and another big bag in the living room. “Oh my god, what is that all?”, Maggie asked when she came back from the kitchen. “Just a few things my friend gave me and some others I’ve picked up at a store”, Benedict told her. She opened the bag and found lots of toys. She sighed and looked up. “Benedict, this is too much, really. You didn’t have to do that”, she said and felt so guilty. She would never be able to repay him. “Don’t mention it”, he said, smiling about the fact that she was actually happy about it, even if she couldn’t show it just now.  
“I thought of Spaghetti for dinner”, he said to change the subject and went to the kitchen. “Okay, but let me cook then, that’s the least I could do”, she said, following him. When he turned around to say something, he found her right in front of him, very close. She was taken by surprise by his quick turn and looked up to his face. Standing so close to him made her realize how tall he was in comparison to herself. She swallowed. He smelled good and even just his presence made the hair on her arms stand up, not even mentioning the feeling in her stomach that arose with him being that close. She cleared her throat and looked to the floor. “I-I’ll better, ehm, get started, it’s already late”, she said and went around him to the kitchen counter. For a second he had to close his eyes to come to his senses. “I’ll go change”, he said and went upstairs to his bedroom. He changed his jeans and sweater to a simply shirt and sweatpants. With a look to his bag he decided to unpack tomorrow. Just when he was about to go back downstairs, he heard noises from the guest room. Wallace must have woken up. For a second he thought about getting Maggie, but then he thought he just would give it a try. He just hoped Wallace wouldn’t start to cry when he showed up in the door. Benedict slowly opened the door and peeked in. He found Wallace lying in the middle of a pillow fort, holding on to his feet and jabbering to himself. For just a moment he admired the sight. It just came to him again how much he wanted children on his own and how lovely it was to have one in his home, even if it wasn’t for long.  
“Hey buddy”, he slowly went closer to the bed. Wallace’s head turned around and scanned the man in front of him. He seemed to remember him and wasn’t scared by his sight. “Slept well? Want to see your mommy? She’s cooking dinner. I don’t know about you, but I’m starving. She’s making Spaghetti. Do you like them?” He thought if he kept talking, Wallace wouldn’t have a chance to cry, but he didn’t look like he was about to. He just watched Benedict talk, interested in the new person he met.  
“Look who’s awake”, Benedict said when he entered the kitchen. “Hey Wally, you slept long. Hopefully that doesn’t mean you keep me awake all night”, Maggie said, when looking up from her cooking. She was a bit rattled by the sight of Benedict holding her son. For a second, she let herself imagine him being Wallace’s dad and this was just a normal family dinner. She rubbed her hands clean with the kitchen towel and came towards Benedict with her arms stretched out, directed to Wallace. She kissed him on the head and held him close to her heart. “I can finish dinner if you want to…”, Benedict offered. At first she wanted to protest, but then she smelled that Wally needed new diaper, NOW. “If you don’t mind? This little gentleman needs to be made dinner-ready”, she said, patting Wallace’s back. She took the diaper bag which was still in the living room and went to the bathroom, she had discovered earlier.


	3. Chapter 3

After dinner, Benedict took Wallace to the living room. He wanted to show him what he has gotten him at the store. “Look, Wallace, what a lovely ball we have here…and a stuffed giraffe…oh and a nice car”, he listed while taking the items out of the bag. Maggie cleaned up the kitchen and heard Benedict talk. She shook her head over the amount of toys he has gotten Wallace. He must have been out of his mind. Wallace on the other hand was more than excited about his new toys, he didn’t know with what to play first. “You shouldn’t have done that, this is way too much”, Maggie said when she entered the living room and kneeled down next to Wally. “I think we had that conversation earlier and I recall telling you to not mention it”, Benedict smiled and winked at her. She blushed immediately and covered it with turning to her son. “Okay little man, if you’re that awake you can also practice walking”, she said and pulled him up to his feet. “Does he have problems with it?”, Benedict asked and sounded honestly concerned. “For his age, he is way behind and is not that eager on walking on his own”, she explained. “It didn’t seem like that at the airport earlier”, Benedict said smiling by the thought. “Yeah, he has his moments, but always at the wrong time”, she sighed. “Okay, then let’s give it a try”, Benedict said and grabbed one of the new toys he got him and moved it in front of Wallace’s face. “Hey Wally, do you want to have this new, awesome car? It’s really cool”, he said, luring the little boy to take a few steps. At first, Wallace just watched the car driving around in front of him, but slowly and very insecure he took a few steps towards Benedict. Maggie hesitated to let go at first, but she overcame her fears and watched her son getting more and more secure with every step.  
Wallace walked right into Benedict’s arms. “Oh my god, he got me, he got me”, Benedict said with a pretended panic in his voice and lifted Wallace up in the air while falling backwards. Wallace’s laughter echoed through the house and warmed both Maggie’s and Benedict’s heart.

“Is he asleep now?”, Benedict asked when Maggie came back down. He had build up the cot in the guest room earlier and went back downstairs to give Maggie some privacy to get her son to sleep. “Yes, he was pretty tired after all that running around the house”, she said sarcastically because Wallace had stopped his walking practice after just a few more steps and continued to play with his new toys. “He wouldn’t let go of the giraffe though, I hope you’re not planning on wanting it back for yourself”, she said and sat down next to him. “Here, I poured you a glass of wine. I didn’t know if you like red or white, but I just had red wine, I hope that’s okay”, he said and handed her a glass. “Oh red’s perfect, thank you”, she said and happily accepted the glass. She took a sip and enjoyed the warm feeling down her throat. She leaned back and held on to the glass. “It’s really amazing what you did for Wallace and me today. I can’t thank you enough”, she said and smiled warm at him. “But still you try to”, he replied also smiling, pointing out the many times she had said “thank you” today.  
“I’m sorry, but I’ve got to ask. How does a young, beautiful woman like you end up in a situation like yours? I mean, Wallace is really amazing, but…you know”, he said and swirled the glass in his hand. He really hesitated at first, but he was just too curious.  
“Oh, don’t worry about it. You let my boy and me stay at your place for free. The least I could do is tell you how I got here”, she said, took a sip and straightened her back before she started telling her story.  
“Wallace’ dad and I met at school when we were about 15, we were High School sweethearts. He always wanted to go to the army and he applied for a job there even before graduation and actually got accepted. Shortly after our graduation I got pregnant. My parents weren’t too keen on becoming grandparents that soon, but they liked Bradley, that’s his name, and they arranged themselves with our new situation. When I was about 7 months pregnant, Bradley got recruited for Iraq. He had to leave almost immediately. He saw Wallace once over Skype”, she had to interrupt herself because the tears rushed to her eyes and she quickly wiped them away.  
“This was the first and the last time that Bradley was able to see his son because a few days after that his camp got bombed. Almost nobody got out”, she continued, her voice shaky. “When Wallace was about 10 months old, I met Oscar. He seemed nice and he even liked my son, but he was not what you would call a ‘good person’. He got a bit of a temper and he drank and didn’t have a job, but I thought as a single-mother I had to take whoever wanted me AND my son; that I had to be happy if someone EVER wanted me again. My parents, of course, didn’t like him and said he was a bad influence for me and especially Wallace, but I refused to leave him. So they kicked me out. I moved in with Oscar, paid his rent and coped with his long nights out. When he continued to come home drunk every single night, waking up Wallace with his rumbling, I wanted to confront him about it, but he got loud then I got loud, one thing led to another and long story short he hit me, real bad actually. But as usual I refused to believe that this was not a healthy relationship. His violence against me went on longer than it makes me proud, but it took Oscar hitting Wallace when he came home drunk again because Wallace was crying to get me to see that I couldn’t let Wallace and me be near Oscar any longer. That was two days ago. I packed our things and when Oscar went out for a drink, I just left, called my friend Andrea, booked a flight and stayed on the airport until our flight took off and here we are”, she told Benedict her story, her fingers clung to her glass of wine.  
Benedict needed to take in what he had just heard. It was a lot to process, but definitely a lot more for her to go throw, especially at such a young age. When she had Wallace shortly after graduation and he was about 18 months old, she couldn’t be older than 21. She seemed older; maybe it was because of all she had gone through.  
“I think you’re holding up strong despite all you’ve went through”, he admired her strength. “I’m just holding up my face for Wallace, but I cried myself to sleep a lot lately…it’s hard being alone”, she said, while putting down her glass, with a shaky voice and swallowed down the lump in her throat. She couldn’t hold back the tears anymore. Benedict put his glass aside and took her in his arms. “I know a hug doesn’t solve it all, but it’s nice from time to time, I guess”, he said while offering her his arms. She hesitated at first, but then she wrapped her arms around his upper body and pressed herself against him. It was nice and a bit disburdening not having to be the strong one, even it was just for a few minutes.  
After a while she sat back up and wiped the corners of her eyes. “I should probably go to bed, it was a really long day”, she said and attempted to grab her glass to bring it into the kitchen. “Just leave it there, I’ll take care of it”, Benedict stopped her. At first she wanted to disagree, but then she realized how tired she was. So she nodded gladly and went upstairs. She quickly checked on Wallace in his cot and then went to bed. She fell asleep immediately.

The next morning, Maggie got woken up by Wallace standing in his cot, sort of babbling to her. He wanted to be taken out, so she did and sat him on the floor while she would get dressed. And just how it was with kids, right at the moment she turned around and her shirt over her head, Wallace decided that right now he felt like walking again and practically ran out of the guest room and right into the next door that was open, which happened to be Benedict’s bedroom. He was still asleep since it was only 7 am in the morning and he had some days off. Wallace went over to the bed and climbed onto it, he had some practice with that from mommy’s bed and couches. He crawled to the head of the bed and sat next to the funny man’s chest. Wallace wanted to check if he was really asleep, so he poked the man’s nose. Benedict wrinkled his nose by the touch, but was still asleep. Wallace wanted him to wake up so that he would play with him again. So he poked his left eye, over and over again until Benedict woke up with fluttering eyes.  
“Oh, hello. Good morning, Wallace”, Benedict said confused. “Hello”, Wallace replied and gave him a big smile. Benedict’s heart melted and the “I could be his father”-thought popped up in his head again. He always dreamed of being woken up by his kids in the morning, but with a wife next to him. “Wally?”, he heard Maggie’s voice in the hall. “He’s here”, he replied to her call. In the next moment she appeared in the door. “How come I always find him with you as soon as he’s gone?”, she said smiling, leaning up against the doorframe. “Maybe he likes me?”, Benedict considered with a grin. “Like? He adores you! I haven’t seen him interacting with another man like this since my dad”, she said and came a few steps closer.  
She felt a bit like she was interfering with his privacy stepping into his bedroom, especially since he wasn’t wearing a shirt. She had to concentrate hard to keep her eyes at his face. “Oh, is that so?”, Benedict asked, flattered and pulled Wallace onto his lap. “Oh yeah”, she replied. “Mommy”, Wallace said and patted on the bed before him, wanting her to sit down. “May I?”, she asked Benedict. “Of course”, he said and shoved up to the side. She thought Wallace would come to her, but he stayed at Benedict’s lap, playing with Benedict’s long fingers. “What do you want to do today?”, Benedict asked her. “Uhm, I don’t know. I probably need to buy some baby food and I’m almost out of diapers, but else…I don’t know. I didn’t have anything planned because I didn’t know where I would end up”, she told him. “I can take you shopping and in the afternoon I can take you two to a park that’s nearby”, he mentioned. “That would be nice. But if you have to work, don’t postpone it for us”, she said. “No, that’s no problem, I’ve got a few days off actually. So you could say I basically came home for my holidays”, he calmed her worries. “Okay, then I better get this man dressed and he probably needs a new diaper too”, she said and stretched her arms out for Wallace. Benedict picked him up and sniffed at his pants. “Yes, that’s sounds about right”, he said and handed Wallace over to her while she had to laugh over his facial expression.


	4. Chapter 4

All together they went to Tesco. “Wow, you really know your way around here”, Benedict noted as he followed her knowing steps. “It’s because I work at one…well, kind of used to”, she explained. “Why used to?”, he asked. “For coming to London, I called in sick and a friend is covering for me. And when I go back…if I go back, I need to see if there is still a job to come back to”, she said and picked out the right sorts of baby food for Wallace.  
After they had brought the food to Benedict’s house, they went out for lunch and then he showed them to the park he was talking about in the morning. Maggie sat back and enjoyed watching the big and the little man work their way around the playground. Wallace was walking an amazing amount today and she got the feeling that he had just felt insecure in the surroundings he had been growing up until now. Here in London, with Benedict, he seemed to feel free enough to try it.  
“Someone wants to see mommy”, Benedict said, coming towards Maggie with Wallace on his arms. Maggie stretched out her arms and took Wally on her lap. “Do you want to drink something?”, she asked her son. Without waiting for an answer, she grabbed his bottle out of her bag and just gave it to him. Wallace took it in his hands and started drinking. “He’s been running around quite a lot today. Thanks for doing this”, she said to Benedict while she caressed Wally’s hair. “It’s been really nice. Normally I don’t get to do this. I work a lot and all my friends who have kids, I don’t get to see them very often”, he said. “Why don’t you have kids on your own?”, she asked and immediately thought she would have gone too far. “Well, I haven’t found the right one yet and I’m very busy at the moment…but spending some time with this little man”, Benedict patted Wallace’s foot, “reminded me how bad I actually want kids on my own.” Maggie observed Benedict’s face while talking. She thought she saw some real pain and grief in his eyes. “Well, you can spend as much time as you want with him. He could use a good male role model for once. Oscar wasn’t really a help with that”, she said and pulled Wallace closer to her.  
“Mommy”, Wallace said and put his hands over his eyes. He always did that when he wanted to play peek-a-boo. “Hey, where did Wally go? Benedict have you seen Wally?”, she asked smiling. Wally giggled on her lap, thinking, they were not seeing him at all. “No, I don’t know where he went”, he answered and laughed. Like if Wallace could get any cuter.  
“Maybe he is under the bench?”, Maggie asked and took an attempt to look beneath it. Wallace peeked under his hand to see where his mother was looking for him. “No, he’s not there. Maybe…he’s here right on my lap”, she said laughing and tickled Wallace. “Benny”, Wallace said and pointed to Benedict, that it was his turn to play now. But for Benedict and Maggie, his words sounded like “Daddy” and their faces went pale. They shared an insecure look. “Ben-ny”, Wallace repeated to make him play the game. “Oh, he said Benny. I thought…”, Benedict said and was a bit relieved. “Yes, I thought so too”, Maggie said and also felt weird. She didn’t know how she would have explained to her son that Benedict wasn’t his father and mostly was not going to be it. He might like the whole “Let’s have a kid and a homeless single mom in the house” for now, but he would never go through with it. It just couldn’t be possible.  
“We should go home, Wallace seems tired and it’s almost time for his nap”, Maggie said and started packing up her things. Benedict picked up Wallace and the three of them got back to his car with an awkward silence building up between Benedict and Maggie.  
Wallace fell asleep during the car ride and Benedict volunteered to carry him up to his cot. When he came back down he found Maggie in front of some pictures he had put up over the years. In her hand she had a picture of his parents. “Are these your parents?”, she asked. “Yes, that was at their 30th anniversary dinner”, he said. He watched her facial expression turn into a sad one. “Are you okay?”, he asked and put his hand on her back. She closed her eyes for a second to enjoy the touch.  
“I just…thought about my parents and how much I miss them”, she said and put down the picture. “Why didn’t you call them when you left Oscar?”, he asked. She turned around and moved over to the couch. He followed her and sat down next to her. “Things are still bad between us. They don’t even know that I have left him”, she explained and pulled up her legs close to her body. “Why don’t you tell them? I think they would be delighted to hear that”, he said and moved closer to her. “I don’t know. We broke contact a while ago. I forbid them to see Wallace because I was mad at them for resenting Oscar. I…still feel like giving up if I contact them and say they were right. I know it sounds dumb”, she said and hung her head. Benedict took her hand in his and squeezed it softly. She looked up and got caught in his piercing blue eyes.  
“It doesn’t sound dumb at all. In a way I get it. But I also believe that you will regret it someday, if not for you then for Wallace”, he explained. Tears came to her eyes. She pulled her hand out of Benedict’s and wiped them away. “God, I’m an emotional mess. I don’t know how many times I have cried in your presence now”, she said and tried to give the situation a funny twist. His hand reached out to catch a tear she had missed. Both looked at his hand hovering in front of her face. And in that moment she just knew that he was about to kiss her. Her eyes wandered from his hand to his eyes. Somehow she wanted to send him the signal that it was okay for him to kiss her, that she wanted it too.  
She slowly moved her face closer to his and suddenly she realized that she really wanted him to kiss her. She wanted to be acknowledged as a woman again and not the single mother who everyone thought needed to be pittied. Their faces got closer and closer to each other and she could feel his breath on her cheek. She closed her eyes and awaited his kiss. That’s when the cry of a baby broke the moment between them. Not just a baby, her baby. Wallace was awake. She sighed, backed out of the “situation” and got up. “I’m sorry”, she said. “No, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have…”, Benedict said and couldn’t really look her in the eyes. He was ashamed of himself for taking advantage of her emotional situation.  
“I should go check on him”, she said and took a few steps backwards. “Yes, you should”, he mumbled and still couldn’t manage to look at her, so he looked at his feet. She went upstairs and Benedict was left alone in the living room. He ran his fingers through his hair and ruffled them. “Come on, Benedict, you’re better than that”, he said to himself and got up. He walked up and down in the living room with the two sides of him fighting within him. The one side that wanted to be the gentleman he normally was, the good guy, and the other side that just REALLY wanted to kiss Maggie.  
“He just needed a diaper change, but now he’s not tired anymore”, Maggie said, when she came back into the living room with Wallace on her arm, who immediately stretched out his little arms to Benedict when he saw him. She handed her son over to Benedict. At this point, she couldn’t deny it any longer that Wallace just loved Benedict. He had never acted like this towards a man since her father, but since he hadn’t seen him for more than 8 months, she wasn’t sure if Wallace even remembered his grandfather.  
While Maggie started on dinner, Benedict sat down with Wallace on the floor and played with him. Maggie had a bright smile on her face whenever she heard Wallace’s laughter from the living room, a sound she sadly hadn’t heard that often she should have before.  
After dinner, Benedict asked if he could put down Wallace. Maggie was surprised but also curious if he was able to. “Please, go ahead”, she said. She gave Wallace a kiss goodnight and watched the two men go up the stairs.  
Benedict put Wallace in his pyjama, handed him the giraffe he had gotten him yesterday and put him in his cot. He got into a squat position in front of it and held onto the cot. “Listen Wallace, I got to ask you something”, he said. Wallace stood in his cot and also held on to the edge of it. “I like your mother really, really much and I know it’s crazy after such a short time of knowing her and I can’t really explain it, but I would like to see where it goes and if she really, really likes me too”, Benedict told Wallace and he just stared at him, reaching out his hand to grab Benedict’s nose. “I just wanted to ask if you are okay with that”, he said to him, let Wally touch his nose and smiled. Wallace was so caught up in grabbing and twisting Benedict’s nose that he didn’t response to his question. “Hey Wally”, Benedict said laughing and poked the little man’s nose which made Wallace let go of Benedict’s and looked up. “Would you be okay with me wanting to kiss your mommy?”, he asked and rested his chin on the edge of the cot. Wallace just heard the word kiss, pursed his lips and leaned towards Benedict. “Oh, for me? Thank you”, Benedict said and let Wallace give him a wet smacker on his cheek. “Can I take that as a yes?”, he asked and smiled. Wallace gave him a big smile in return and it warmed Benedict’s heart.  
“Okay, little man, time for bed now”, he said, picked him up to lay him down and pulled the blanket onto him. He bent down to give him a light kiss on the forehead. “Good night, Wallace”, he said and hesitated for a moment, “I love you”, he said and looked into Wallace’s pure and innocent baby eyes. “Dada”, Wallace suddenly said and Benedict’s heart stopped for a moment. Did he really just say that? Could it be that Wallace liked him as much as he did?  
It almost broke his heart that Wallace wasn’t really his child. He deserved a father and weirdly enough, Benedict wanted to be that for him. A loving, caring father which would be there whenever he needed him. Benedict turned around to turn off the lights and let the door slightly open when he left the guest room. He needed a moment to take a deep breath. This whole thing started to get really serious and he didn’t know if he was really ready for all of this. He went into the upper bathroom and splashed some cold water into his face.  
As he got back down, he found Maggie on his couch, crying again. “Okay, now I understand what you’ve said earlier about crying a lot”, he said and tried to brighten the mood with a joke. He went over and sat down next to her on the couch. “What is going on?”, he asked and put his arm across her shoulder. “I-I tried to call my parents. I’ve thought about what you said earlier, but…I-I couldn’t do it. I don’t know what to-to say”, she stuttered while tears streamed down her face. He didn’t know what he should response to that so he remained silent and just offered her his shoulder to cry on. She leaned up against him and wrapped her arms around his upper body, while his arm around her shoulder pressed her against him.  
After a while her tears stopped and she looked up. “I don’t want to be alone tonight, Benedict”, she said and looked so lost and tiny in his arms. Even if he wanted to, he couldn’t have said no to her puppy eyes. “Okay”, he whispered. He led her up to his bedroom. “What about Wallace?”, she asked as if she just remembered that her son wasn’t with her. “We can leave the doors open, he’s right next door”, Benedict calmed her worries and led her to his bed. She seemed off the wall. He gave her a shirt of his and let her alone to change. He went over to the guest room to check on Wallace who was asleep and holding onto the giraffe. He opened the door completely and got changed in the bathroom where he had left his pyjama pants in the morning. When he got back to his room, Maggie sat on his bed, staring into blank space, just dressed with his shirt and her naked feet pulled close to her body.  
Benedict lingered at the door for a moment. He walked around the bed and sat down as well. It was his own bed he had slept in for years, but it felt a bit weird having her on it as well. He had thought about this moment a few times now, but never in such a constellation. “We should sleep now, it was a long day”, he said and got under the blanket. She snuggled up to him and placed her head on his bare chest. He wrapped his arms around her and took a deep breath of her scent.  
Normally she would have reacted more to the half-naked man next to her, but she was so caught up in her feelings that she slowly but steadily fell asleep to his steady heartbeat.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a long one =) ENJOY!
> 
> I would love to hear what you think of the story =)

“Mommy?” Benedict got woken up by the calls of Wallace in the room next door. His eyes fluttered open and the bedroom was filled with the light of dawn. He slowly recognized Maggie in front of him, snuggled close to his chest with her back, her head rested on his left arm. His right arm was wrapped around her stomach. He lifted his head to look at the clock on his nightstand. Half past 5 in the morning was way too early for his days off. He carefully pulled his arm out beneath her and got up. He went over to the guest room. “Hey, you’re up early”, he whispered, barely able to keep his eyes open. “Aren’t you tired?”, he asked Wallace, but the boy only shook his head. “Come on”, Benedict said and picked him up. He also got his giraffe and got back to his bedroom. “Look, mommy is still asleep. Why don’t we try to sleep a little more”, he said and laid him down in the middle of the bed, resting his body next to his. Benedict pulled the blanket over the three of them. Maggie had turned around while he was gone to get Wallace. Now Wally was lying between Maggie and Benedict with their faces facing him. Benedict had already closed his eyes again and had placed his hand on Wally’s tummy to calm him down. And Wallace actually went back to sleep, holding on to his giraffe.  
Maggie woke up some time later because the sun was shining in her eyes. She squinted against the sun and rubbed her eyes. As she opened them again, she couldn’t believe what she saw at first. Wallace lied between Benedict and herself, he must have gotten him from his cot. He was asleep and holding onto his giraffe. Wally’s head was tilted to the side so that his forehead pressed against Benedict’s. It surprised her how much they both looked alike while asleep, but she had to admit that Bradley, Wallace’s father, also looked very similar to Benedict. She guessed she had a type.  
Maggie placed her head on her hand and just watched them both sleep. For every breath Benedict took, Wallace took two. She was amazed by how much Wallace seemed to trust Benedict and how close the two have gotten in just two days. It felt like weeks ago that she had been stood up by her friend Andrea at the airport. She really didn’t know what she would have done if Benedict wasn’t there to save her and Wallace.  
When Wallace woke up, she quickly took him out of the bed so that he wouldn’t wake up Benedict. She changed his diapers and made him breakfast. Just a few minutes later, Benedict came down the stairs, his hair all messed up from sleeping. “Morning”, he mumbled and ruffled Wally’s hair while passing him. “Coffee’s in the kitchen”, Maggie pointed to the kitchen and just had to smile. He looked so adorable. She followed his steps with her eyes and just watched him be. She came to her senses just as he turned around again and came back to the living room. Wallace was sitting on the floor playing with his new toys and Benedict was sitting on his couch, slowly waking up with the coffee in his hand. Maggie had turned on the telly earlier, but had it on mute. “What time is it?”, he said and had his problems suppressing a yawn. “A quarter past 8”, she said and had to yawn herself while watching him. They spent the rest of the morning watching TV and without knowing, both felt like a family spending their Sunday morning.

After lunch, Benedict realized he hadn’t checked his phone for quite some time. Some messages and a few missed calls, one from his mother. He ignored the messages for a moment and called her. “Hi mum, you tried to reach me?”, he asked as soon as she had picked up. “Hello Darling. Yes, I wanted to remind you that you are invited for lunch and tea tomorrow at 1 pm. You tend to forget these sort of appointments”, she said with a smile on her face and a little criticism in her voice. Benedict rolled his eyes. “No, I haven’t forgotten about it. I got it right here on my calendar”, he reassured her while standing in the hall with absolutely no calendar near him. “Good then. Don’t make me call you again tomorrow, Darling”, she said. “Ehm, mum. Would you mind me bringing someone?”, he asked and didn’t want to give away too much. “Oh!”, his mother was surprised, but happy. He hadn’t brought someone home since Olivia and that was 3 years ago. “It’s actually two”, Benedict added. “Oh?”, she asked, now only surprised. “Okay then, I’ll see you tomorrow, I promise I won’t forget”, he said and wanted to hang up, but his mother stopped him. “Benedict?”, she said. “Yes?”. “I missed you, don’t stay away that long”, she said and sounded a bit sad. “Promise…and I missed you too”, Benedict replied and hung up after he said good-bye. When he looked at his other calls, he saw that Karen, his publicist, had tried to reach him a few times this morning. One message he said received from her just said “Check your inbox”. So he did.  
He got his laptop from his bedroom and went back downstairs to the living room. When he got to his mails, he opened the one from Karen with just the words “Please explain” and a link from thesun.com. He was expecting the worst.  
When he clicked on the link, he found pictures of him and Wallace at the park and when the three of them were sitting on the bench, with big fat headlines like “Benedict Cumberbatch a father!” and “Why did he hide his family?”. Benedict sighed. He thought this might would happen, but he had just blocked it out. Maggie appeared behind him. “Is that us?”, she asked and leaned closer to the screen. Her eyes wandered over the pictures and the headlines. “Are you like famous or something?”, she asked and turned around to him. He wasn’t sure if she was just curious or totally freaking out internally.  
“You don’t know who I am?”, he asked, unsure if she really didn’t know who he was or if she just had played it cool over the few days. It was a while ago that he had to explain to someone in the UK who he was. “If you didn’t play in a movie that started with a desk lamp jumping on an i, I probably haven’t seen it”, she answered him, shrugging her shoulders. He had to smile over her saying. “I mean, I was wondering how you are able to afford a house and a car like that, but I just guessed you were a successful business man”, she explained herself. “I never would have thought of you as an actor, to be honest. What do you do?”, she asked. “I played in some movies and in theatre”, he explained and wasn’t sure if she was making fun of him or not.  
“Mummy, wall-e”, Wallace said while standing at the couch, holding on to the edge. “Hey, how did you get there so quickly?”, Maggie asked surprised by Wallace’s growing ability and will to walk around. “We really need to start keeping an eye out for him”, she said and Benedict noted the “we” she used. He liked it.  
“Could you watch him for a second while I get his film?”, she said and after a nod from Benedict, she went upstairs to get the DVD. Meanwhile, Benedict picked up Wallace and sat down with him on the couch. He loved the little boy’s baby smell and how he held on to his fingers, needing his whole hand. “Here it is”, Maggie said and waved the DVD around. “Could you put it in, I don’t know where”, she said and handed Benedict the little disc. She sat down next to Wallace on the couch and took her little boy on her lap. She could actually feel how excited he was to watch his favourite movie.  
“Wall-e? I have never seen it”, Benedict said when he came to sit down as well, looking at the back of the DVD case. “Oh, then you missed out on something great. It’s really a cute movie. Wallace loves it, because of the same name, he thinks that this is a film about his future and taking care of the world will be his job”, she said and smiled brightly while talking about her son. Benedict had to laugh himself and ruffled through the little boy’s hair.  
Halfway through the movie, Benedict’s eyes wandered over to Maggie, above Wally’s head, who was sitting between them, being completely hypnotized by the movie. “Maggie, I wanted to ask if you two would like to join me tomorrow…”, Benedict began, but was shushed by Wallace, putting his little finger on his own mouth to make him keep it down. Benedict’s eyes got big for a second, but then he burst into silent laughter and so did Maggie. “Ask me later”, she whispered to him and pressed Wallace against her with a big smile on her face.  
After the movie, Benedict went out to do some grocery shopping. Maggie couldn’t stop herself and used Benedict’s laptop to google him. She was overwhelmed by the results she had found, especially a site called tumblr. He actually was REALLY famous and she couldn’t explain to herself how she could have missed him in the media. She was watching TV after all. “Look Wallace, Benny is famous”, she said and showed her son a picture of Benedict in his Sherlock costume. Wallace tilted his head to the side, not sure if this was really Benny his mother was showing him. The dark-haired man looked so serious and Benny always looked so nice.  
Maggie scrolled through some pictures on a tumblr website and had to admit that there were A LOT hot one’s of Benedict. She felt a tingle in her stomach, growing with every picture she found. She really understood why so many women and girls liked him. “Mummy”, Wallace appeared next to her and she jumped as he surprised her. “You’re really getting fast, huh, Wally?”, she said while picking her son up and sitting him on her lap. She scrolled to another picture with Benedict looking the way she knew him. “Benny!”, Wallace shouted happy and pointed to the screen as he saw him. “Yes, that is Benny. You really like him, right?”, she asked and Wallace nodded his head with big motions. “Should I tell you a secret, Wally? Sometimes I wish we could just stay here with Benny…wouldn’t that be nice?”, she said and picked her son up, pressing him close to her. Benedict was so kind and loving to Wallace. So completely different than Oscar, who had always seen Wallace as burden, but he could only have her WITH Wallace. But with Benedict, it seemed more like he would only take her IF she brought Wallace, which would sweep every single mother off her feet.

Benedict was about to go to bed when he heard a knock on his doorframe. When he turned around, he found Maggie in shorts and a tank top. His heart skipped a beat and it took his eyes a moment to focus on her face than everywhere else on her body. “I just remembered that you wanted to ask me something earlier?”, she said and made it sound like a question. “Oh yes, yes”, he said and shook his head. He had totally forgotten about it too. “My mum had called me today to remind me that I am invited for lunch and tea tomorrow”, he told her and went around the bed, closer to her. “Oh, so you will be gone tomorrow?”, she asked. “Yes, but…what I wanted to ask you earlier…would you care to join me tomorrow?…and of course Wallace”, he quickly added. She was silent for a moment and he could see that a lot of things were going through her head. “You…want to introduce Wallace and me…to your mum?…As what?”, she asked and appeared to be very nervous all of a sudden. “As the two lovely people that are staying with me at the time”, he answered. “You mean, the two vagabonds invading your home”, she clarified. It had just come back to her mind this was just temporary and she had completely lost that important fact out of sight.  
“You’re not vagabonds, you’re just…just in trouble and I’m here to help”, he corrected her words. “And you are definitely not invading my home, I offered it to you”, he said and got closer to her. She still stood at the door, looking sad and guilty. “I just feel like I’m using you and not being able to give you anything in return”, she said and crossed her arms. “Hey, come on. You’re making me lunch and dinner and you let me spend time with Wallace, who is incredibly cute by the way, good job”, he said and gave her a reassuring smile. “You’re so nice, Benedict”, she said and just hugged him. He was a bit surprised by it, but then he wrapped his long arms around her. Christ, she felt so good pressed against him, with just the little clothes she had on and he was totally aware of her half-naked self. He really felt the urge to kiss her, just like he had felt when he had found her crying on his couch yesterday. “I really want to kiss you”, he mumbled against her head. “What?”, she asked a bit shocked and tilted her head back to look into his eyes. “I-I said…I really want you two to come with me to my parents. You will love them”, he said and quickly let go of her. “Oh…okay then. I’ll see you tomorrow, good night”, she said and left his bedroom. Benedict sat down on the edge of his bed and buried his face in his hands. “You’re an idiot, Benedict”, he hissed to himself.  
As soon as Maggie had left his room, a big smile appeared on her face. She had heard exactly what he had said and she wanted it too. Just to know for sure that he wanted to kiss her as badly as she wanted to kiss him, made her utterly happy. She quickly checked on Wallace and then went to bed.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a short one, but it fits better if I make a break there before the next chapter. Enjoy your sunday!

Maggie was still nervous when Benedict pulled in the driveway of his parent’s house. She still wasn’t sure if it was a good idea that Benedict introduced her and Wally to his parents. He noticed her slightly shaky hands and how she twisted her fingers. “It’s alright, they’ll love you and probably just concentrate on Wallace”, he tried to calm her nerves and checked on Wally through the rearview mirror. Surprisingly he was not asleep as usual when he was in the car.  
Benedict got out of his car and Maggie as well. While she was getting Wallace out of his seat, Benedict went to the trunk of his car to get the bag for Wallace with his diapers and toys. As he came around his car, he already found his mother standing in the door, waiting for him. She always did that. He shouldered the bag and put his hand on Maggie’s back to get her moving. “Hi, mum”, he said while walking towards her. He hugged his mother and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “Oh, it’s so nice to see you again, it’s been so long”, she said and hugged him back. “But Ben…how long have you been in New York?”, she asked with a side look to Maggie and Wallace. Benedict had to chuckle to himself. He took a step back and waved Maggie into the round. “Mum, I want to introduce you to Maggie and her son Wallace, they’re staying at my house at the moment”, he introduced them. Right at that moment, his father came out of the house behind his wife. “Maggie, Wallace, these are my parents, Wanda and Timothy.” “Nice to meet you”, Maggie said and shook both of their hands. “Then you must be Wallace”, Timothy said and took Wallace little hand to shake it, while Wally was a bit shy at the moment. Benedict immediately saw that his father had also fallen for Wallace the minute he saw him. It took Wally a few seconds, but then he brightly smiled at Benedict’s father and everyone around had to smile as well.  
“Let’s get inside, lunch is waiting for you”, Wanda said and got in first Maggie with Wallace on her arm, at the end of the line, Benedict and his father. “You know your mother will have A LOT of questions this afternoon?”, Timothy patted the back of his son. “I know, she always does”, Benedict sighed and went in.

“Where did you get the idea of calling him Wallace?”, Wanda asked. They all had almost finished eating. Benedict had Wallace on his lap and were sitting between his mother and Maggie. “It’s my grand-father’s name. I adored him as a child”, Maggie told her. “Oh, he must be delighted then to have his great grandson named after him?”, Wanda said. “Sadly, he passed away when I was about 13 years old, but I promised my parents that if I ever had a boy, I would call him Wallace”, she explained her choice of name and stayed surprisingly calm during telling it. She still had problems talking about her grandfather, even after all these years.  
“She doesn’t talk to her parents anymore, so don’t start something”, Benedict admonished his mother with a whisper, knowing where she wanted to go with this. “I won’t, I promise”, she hissed. “So, you don’t talk to your parents, I hear. How come?”, she asked Maggie as soon as she had turned around. “Mum!”, Benedict wasn’t as nearly shocked as Maggie because he was used to his mum being indiscreet. “Maggie, you don’t have to answer this. I’m so sorry about my mother”, Benedict apologized to Maggie. All the three of them were looking at each other in awkward silence. “Found it!”, Benedict’s father stepped in and held up the box of Lego’s. “It’s okay, Benedict, I don’t mind”, she reassured him and gave him a thankful look, which his mother noticed with a hidden smile. “I think we should let little Wallace try out the Lego’s while I’m clearing the table. Benedict, would you lend me a hand?”, Wanda asked and stood up. He handed Wallace over to Maggie and collected the plates from the table.  
Benedict then followed his mother into the kitchen, carrying the plates. “So…what do you think of her?”, he asked, putting the dishes down on the kitchen counter. “You realize he is not your son, Benedict?”, she replied, getting right to the core of this conversation. He knew it was worthless to convince her otherwise so he just gave in. “I know that”, he said, rolling his eyes like a stubborn teenager. “But his biological father died in Iraq a while ago and her ‘boyfriend’ is not worth shit”, he almost hissed the word. “Watch your mouth, Benedict”, his mother admonished him. It didn’t matter to her how old he was, he would not swear beneath her roof. “Sorry”, he mumbled. “I like her, she’s really lovely and Wally, well, don’t even get me started on how cute he is or we will stand here until tomorrow”, she said and a smile appeared on her face. She would never confess it to her son, but she wanted grandchildren for a long time and watching Benedict interact with Wallace over lunch made her feel bitter-sweet. He was definitely ready to be a father. She still couldn’t understand why he didn’t work it out with his long-time, now ex-girlfriend Olivia. He’s been alone for a while now and Maggie would fit so well to him, but the child made it extra complicated. But he had already fallen for he, she saw that in every movement or every word of him. How he always were close to her, the way he always kept an eye on Wallace, somehow always managed to touch her lightly, either her arm, her hand or her shoulder.  
She stared at him smiling, but didn’t say anything. “What?”, he asked, feeling as uncomfortable as always when his mother did that. She took her time to answer him. “You like her very much, probably more than you should”, she began and he wanted to defend himself, but she stopped him with a small gesture. “If you are serious with her AND with her son…if you really realize what it means to start a relationship with a mother, then fight for her…rescue her from the life she had been living before, from, what I can see when she’s talking about it, was a real bad one. You won her over a long time ago, but make it clear to her that you are in for the long run. Convince her that she can depend on you”, she went towards him while talking and took his face between her hands, making sure that he was really listening to her. He was a bit shocked by the words of his mother because he expected this conversation to go the complete opposite way. “Promise me you will try your very best and won’t give up until you did”, she said while staring right into his eyes. “Promise”, he said, smiling happily that his mother was all up for his “plan”, the plan she had just dictated him. She gave him a soft kiss on the cheek and let go of his face. “And I really won’t mind Wallace as my first grandchild”, she said and took the cake from the counter. “First?”, he asked irritated and frankly alarmed, while carrying the tray of cups and little plates.


	7. Chapter 7

The afternoon with Benedict’s parents was nice, but a bit awkward. His mother kept dropping hints what a beautiful thing a relationship would be and how important a stable family surrounding for a child was. How lovely Wallace was and how well he got along with everybody. Maggie was sure she meant to keep it subtle, but she could also have said it straight to Maggie’s face that Benedict and she would make a great couple. Of course, she liked Benedict, but a couple? She only knew the guy for a few days and it was strange enough that he got along that well with Wallace. She remembered the hug from last night and what he said and that he thought she didn’t hear him. Her eyes wandered over to Benedict driving home, Wallace asleep in his seat. She felt save with him, not just here in his car, but at all. When she looked at Benedict, she could picture a safe and happy future and that’s what scared her the most. After looking him up online yesterday she realized that she practically knew nothing about him and he knew nothing about her. Well…maybe not nothing, but being a single mother at that age, with a crappy boyfriend like Oscar, not speaking to her parents…her parents. The afternoon also showed her how much she actually missed them and the only obstacle, which had been Oscar, was out of the way. There was actually no reason for her to maintain the silence despite her pride, but she wasn’t in a position where she could allow herself to have some.  
“I think I’m gonna call my parents”, she just said out loud in the car. Benedict looked at her surprised, but reminded him quickly to focus on the street again. “Really? Why?”, he asked. “I don’t know”, she answered honestly. Benedict just nodded and they were silent for the rest of the drive.  
Back at Benedict’s house, Wallace was still asleep so Benedict put him up in his cot. When he came back down, he found Maggie sitting on his couch with her phone in her hands. It was like a deja-vu. “Are you calling them?”, he asked and waited in the door. She seemed nervous and afraid. He could actually see and feel that she was different than normally. “Yeah…yes, I think so. Could you…could you leave me alone?…I think I need to be alone for this”, she said and looked up. He scanned her face with an observant look. She looked determined to do it. “Okay. I’ll be up in my room, keeping an eye on Wallace, If you need me”, he said, hesitated for a second because he really wanted to hug her, but he resisted and closed the door behind him. He couldn’t explain it, but he felt that something had changed.  
With shaky hand she dialed the number she knew so well but hadn’t used in months. She got more and more nervous as she heard the dial tone and her mouth got dry. It felt like ages before someone picked up the phone at the other end.  
“Hello?”, she heard the voice of her mother. She had to swallow a few times before she was even close to being able to say something. “Hello?”, the woman on the other end asked again and was about to hang up. “Mum?”, Maggie finally said with a voice that was shakier than her fingers while dialing. The person on the other end was silent out of shock. She felt the tears rushing up to her eyes and a lump building in her throat. “Oh my god, Darling”, her mother finally said and she could hear her crying what led to Maggie’s tears streaming down her face. “Oh my god, Maggie, I missed you so much”, her mother whimpered, what made Maggie cry even more. She had thought her parents, her mother in particular, were angry at her for picking Oscar over them and that they would hate her. But hearing her mother say that she missed her was such a relief and a shock at the same time. “Oh mum”, Maggie mumbled in tears. She felt like a little girl and all she wanted was to fall into her mother’s arms and just be held. The two women cried a while before they were able to talk to each other. A talk that could not be done over the phone. That’s why it was decided very quickly.

“I will be flying home”, Maggie said to Benedict. “When?”, was his only question. He kinda was expecting this outcome. “Tomorrow morning. I already booked a flight”, she said and Benedict remembered that he had left his laptop downstairs. For some reason he was mad at himself for that. “When will you be back?”, he said, not sure if he wanted to hear the answer. “I have to sort things out with my parents. We have a lot to catch up on”, she just said and looked down. “I will pack my things and go to bed early. Our plane takes off at 8 in the morning”, she said and felt tears coming to her eyes again. She didn’t want to admit why it was so hard for her to say all this to Benedict. She couldn’t even look him in the eyes.  
“So that’s just it?”, he asked. She crossed her arms in front of her and still looked down at her feet. Benedict wanted to scream at her to look at him, but he wasn’t sure if he could take her tears right now. She still said nothing. “Then…at least let me drive you, okay?”, he said, feeling a lump building in his throat. “Ben, I don’t know”, she said and it struck him that she had used a short form of his name for the first time, but he felt like he didn’t have the time to be happy about that. “Look, I will be at that airport if you want me there or not and it would be a lot easier for both of us, if you want me there because…I WANT to be there”, he emphasized. She finally looked up and at the same time she realized it was a big mistake. As soon as she looked into his piercing blue eyes she regretted her decision, but nevertheless she had to go through with it. “Okay, for all I care you can take us”, she said and wanted to go up to the guest room, where Wally was still asleep. She needed to get out of the room before she started crying because she knew, once she started she wouldn’t be able to stop.  
Benedict took a step forward in an attempt to hug her, but at the same time she took a step back. His shoulders caved forward. “Goodnight Benedict”, she quickly said, turned around and almost ran up the stairs. As soon as she had closed the door behind her, she started crying. She pressed her hand in front of her mouth not to wake Wallace, but the tears just kept coming. She thought after the conversation with her mother she wouldn’t have any tears left, but she was so wrong.  
Benedict sat down downstairs in his living room. He felt so empty, helpless. He just knew that she was slipping out of his hands. He didn’t sleep at all that night. He was counting down the minutes until he had to drive her and Wallace to the airport and he feared every single one of them.  
The car ride was silent and awkward. Wallace was awake for a change, but he felt that something was going on. Something he didn’t like…at all.  
When they arrived at the airport, both Maggie and Benedict felt terrible. They silently walked next to each other to the airport counter for check in and he accompanied them until the last door where only people with tickets could go through. “So I guess that’s it then?”, she said and turned around to Benedict to say goodbye, who was carrying Wallace. “Say good-bye to Benedict, Wallace”, his mother commended him. Wallace looked at his Benny and saw the smile on Benny’s lips, but the tears in his eyes. Something was wrong. Benny should not cry. That’s why he gave him a kiss on the cheek. That always cheered him up. “I will miss you, Wally. Be a good boy and listen to your mother. You will have great fun at your grandparents”, Benedict said and his voice was shaky. He hugged him tight. His heart hurt so much like it would burst any second. He quickly blinked away the tears in his eyes before he faced the little boy again. He gave him a kiss on his baby cheek and put him down in his stroller.  
“Can I hug you now?”, Benedict asked and looked at Maggie. Her heart melted and cried on its own as she saw his puppy eyes and the pain that was in them. “Of course you can”, she said and didn’t even try to hold back the tears. Benedict pulled her in to a tight hug, she thought he would never let go and a part of her, actually a big part, never wanted him to. “Thank you so much for all you have done for us. I will miss you”, she whispered at his ear. “Will you be coming back?”, he asked, his voice unsteady, afraid of the answer. She swallowed a few times before she was able to say anything. “I think not.” Three simple words that destroyed him right there at Heathrow airport. “Goodbye Ben”, she said and then, for the first and probably last time, kissed him on his mouth. He immediately closed his eyes to take in every second of this kiss. How could she do that to him right now? Why kiss him at the last second? As soon as it had started it was over.  
With tears streaming down her face, she quickly grabbed her stuff and the stroller with Wallace in it and disappeared through the door and off to her gate. She cried during the whole flight.  
Benedict left the airport right away, but wasn’t able to go home just now. He just knew it would feel weird and sad and empty. He drove around. For a second he thought about going to his parents, but then he remembered the words of his mother and her “plan” for him. He wasn’t ready to face another Wanda-Ventham-lecture. Not now, it would come soon enough.  
When he finally got home, it was getting dark outside and he was right. The house felt empty and cold. The phone vibrated in his pocket and for a second he thought it would be her, but it was just a message from his publicist. “Does that mean it’s over?”, he read and found another link. He didn’t even open it, he could imagine what he would find there. “I hope not”, he just replied with a brief text message and put away his phone. He needed to be alone for now…and a drink. Most of all he needed a drink.  
With a glass in his hand het got upstairs. He wanted to go straight to his room, but he stopped at the guest room. It still smelled like her and he closed his eyes for a moment. Just for a second, he wanted to feel like she was just around the corner. He looked at the now empty cot. He should return this to his friend and all of a sudden he wanted to get it out of his sight immediately. He put down his glass on the nightstand and went over to the cot. In it, he found the little stuffed giraffe. Wally must have forgotten it. Would he even be able to fall asleep? Benedict grabbed the giraffe and sat down on the bed. God, he missed them so much already!  
He crawled onto the bed and lay down and curled up with the giraffe in his hands. He stayed there the whole night, but didn’t get much sleep.


	8. Chapter 8

“Benedict looks oddly like Bradley”, her mother noted after Maggie showed her a picture on her phone. “Yes, I kind of noticed that as well”, Maggie said and the longer she looked at the picture the brighter she smiled. Her mother observed her face without her noticing. “Wallace looks so much like Bradley”, her mother sighed as she turned around and watched her husband and Wallace play together on the carpet. Maggie also turned around and crossed her arms in front of her body. The two women watched their men for a few moments.  
“Funny enough Wallace looks also a lot like Benedict”, her mother stated while keeping her eyes on her grandson. Maggie wanted to say something, but she had realized it too a while ago. “Some might call it coincidence”, her mother said. “And what are you calling it?”, Maggie asked, knowing her mother too well. “A perfect match?”, she said and looked over to her daughter. She could see that there was a lot going on in Maggie’s head while she chewed on her lower lip. “Come on, you can break your beautiful head over this at a later time”, she said, put her hand over Maggie’s shoulder and guided her back to the living room.  
When Maggie and Wallace arrived at her parents’ house, there was a LOT of crying. It took Wallace a little while to feel comfortable around people he practically didn’t know, but as always he got along with them pretty fast.  
Maggie’s parents were in fact very relieved that she had left Oscar. She didn’t tell them what it actually took her to leave him, she just said that she had enough. Her father was still very sceptical when she talked about Benedict. He was glad that he took such great care of his daughter and his grandson, but the way his daughter talked about this man she practically didn’t know scared him. His wife Sue on the other hand was all up for this London-hero. The knight in shining armour that came to save her. From what Maggie had told them he was an actor, but her father didn’t know any Benedict Cumberbatch.  
“He plays Sherlock in that BBC series”, Maggie said while tea. “Oh Harold, you love that show, remember? I’m never allowed to talk to you while it’s on”, Sue said. “But you always do, darling”, he mumbled. “Have you met that Dr. Watson actor too?”, Maggie’s mother asked. “No, I haven’t”, Maggie felt a bit uncomfortable talking about the famous Benedict Cumberbatch because that wasn’t the one she got to know over the last few days. She didn’t even know the movies or shows he had been on, but she could tell them what his living room looked like, that he always uses a bit too much salt while eating, that he liked his coffee dark with sugar and most of all that he was absolutely lovely with Wallace. She felt tears coming to her eyes and quickly blinked them away. It felt like ages ago since she had kissed him goodbye at the airport in the morning. The touch of his lips was already a fading memory. She should have kissed him when she had the chance. “Maggie? Maggie!”, the voice of her mother suddenly got her out of her daydreaming. “Maggie, are you alright?”, she asked with maternal care. “Yes, I’m fine. I’m just glad to be back”, Maggie said and smiled but it didn’t reach up to her eyes and her mother noticed that.  
Later that evening, when Sue and Harold went to bed, she could help but to say it. “Harold, I think that Benedict guy from London really got to her. It tears my heard apart when I see her sad eyes”, Sue said and brushed her hair at the little make-up table in the corner of their bedroom. Harold sat in bed, trying to read his book. “She will get over him just as she got over Bradley”, he said without looking up. “Harold, watch your words! Bradley is the father of her child, she will never forget him…but Benedict is not dead. He is not that far away actually and that will never leave her mind”, Sue said and got up. “But what you want to do, Sue-bear? We just got her back. Do you want her to go off to London so we will actually never see her again?”, Harold put away his book and raised his voice. “Keep it down, Harold…No, of course I want to see her, if it was up to me she and Wallace would never leave that house again, but…but haven’t you seen her today? She’s just half a day away from him and already miserable. I don’t want this sad face in my house. I don’t want a man again to be the reason we don’t see our daughter anymore. We made that mistake once Harold and god forbid I will let that happen a second time”, she ended her speech, while she was walking up and down the room, being watched by her husband. “As always I know you’re right, but what are we going to do? Just take her phone and call that Sherlock guy?”, Harold sarcastically said. His wife looked at him like he had the idea of the year. “Oh no, Sue, no no no. You can’t do that”, Harold got upset. “But that’s it, we just get him here and the two should talk it out”, Sue said and got in bed. He hasn’t seen his wife that excited in months. “And what if he actually comes here, HOW can we even know that he feels the same about her?”, Harold asked. He had put his book away a while ago because he realized there would be no reading for him tonight. “Have a little bit more faith in our daughter. She’s gorgeous, loveable and smart. She could have anyone, but she had to take that Oscar-guy back then”, Sue said with a disgusted expression on her face. “But she has a child, he is a successful actor in London. Why would he burden himself with a child that’s not even his?”, Harold asked. Sue wanted to counter, but she knew her husband was right. She practically knew nothing about Benedict. She sighed and covered herself with the blanket. “Just sleep on it Sue-bear, this was a long day with a lot to take in. We talk about it tomorrow”, Harold said, kissed his wife on the head and wrapped his arms around her, after he turned the light off.  
“Oh shoot, where’s your giraffe?”, Maggie said in the other room with a weeping Wallace not wanting to go to sleep. She rummaged through her bag, but couldn’t find it. “Oh dammit, I forgot it at Ben’s house”, she mumbled to herself. She wondered if she should call him so he will send it to her. But calling him on the first day away felt like giving in. She needed to show him that she was good without him, even she didn’t feel like it at all.  
“Please go to sleep, Wally. You must be tired after such an exciting day. You met your grandmother and grandfather and new toys and…mummy’s tired too”, she sighed and swayed him in her arms, but he just wouldn’t calm down. Suddenly she stopped because she had an idea. “Okay, Wally, you know what? We’re gonna lay down now”, she said and got in the bed of the guest room of her parents. She pulled Wallace close and he cuddled up to her. She grabbed her phone from the nightstand and looked for a picture of Benedict, then she gave it to Wallace. “Look, there’s Benny saying goodnight”, she said and lowered her voice to calm him down and make him sleepy. “Goodnight, Benny”, Wally said and kissed the screen. Maggie closed her eyes, sighed and kissed Wallys head. “Goodnight Wally, goodnight Benny”, she mumbled and left her phone with her son until he had fallen asleep. It took her a bit longer with all the thoughts running through her head. She really, really missed Benedict and her heart actually hurt by the thought of never seeing him again. In the darkness of the room she just let the tears run down her face, pulling her son closer to her, practically holding on to him as if he was her anchor.

Benedict woke up with the sun shining directly into his eyes. An unusual way to wake up in London. He sat up, ran his fingers through his hair and rubbed his eyes. He still had the giraffe in his hands. He realized where he had slept and why this room was empty. He got up and went down to get coffee. He should get on with his life, it had just been 4 days, that shouldn’t bother him that much. But it did.  
Took his cup of coffee to the living room and sat down at his desk where he had left his laptop. He checked his e-mails and upcoming projects. He need to get back to his creative life, his job. He dived into his work and sat there for the rest of the morning.  
Later, he looked through his folders and found a folder named “For Benny”. It was created two days ago. When he opened it, he found pictures from the laptop camera showing Wallace and Maggie pulling faces, smiling and laughing. He looked at every single one of them. In the last one, both of them smiled directly into the camera. It was the most beautiful picture Benedict had ever seen. In a blink of an eye he pressed the Print-button. He got in the hall where he had put his printer and took the piece of paper, folded it and put it in a spare frame he took out of the cupboard and put it to the other pictures by the window. He crossed his arms and looked at the picture that fit in perfectly between the others. He looked over his shoulder to his couch where he had put the giraffe. If Wally was here right now, he would probably walk over to the couch to get the stuffed animal, his steps getting more and more secure. A light smile played around his lips. This will not be the way this all would end. It was just the beginning.


	9. Chapter 9

Maggie sat next to her father in his car and nervously tapped her fingers on her thigh. They were on their way to Oscar’s flat to get the rest of her things. She wanted to go alone, but her father wouldn’t let her and in secret she was glad she wouldn’t have to face him alone. He parked the car in front of the building. “Please let me go up alone at first. He should be out now, he normally is. I pack up my things and call you when I’m done, okay?”, she asked him. He hesitated. This really went against the grain, but in the end he nodded. She took a deep breath and got out. Maggie went up to the flat and quickly got in. She felt so uncomfortable in these rooms. She quickly packed up her and Wally’s things, but she would need help with the crib and high chair. The place looked like a mess and it stunk. Oscar was really a messy pig and she couldn’t think of any reason why she ever got together with him in the first place.  
When she heard keys in the door she immediately froze. She thought she was able to avoid a confrontation. The next second, Oscar stood in the door. She immediately compared him to Benedict and Oscar lost in every way. She felt nothing but hate and fear. “I thought you’d come back”, he said with a cheesy smile and it sent cold showers down her spine. “No, I’m not coming back, I’m just getting my things”, she coldly replied and kept putting clothes in the bag she brought with her. “I saw you in those magazines. You know he doesn’t care about you? Why would he? Look at you and that brat! I’m the best you can hope for. But it will take a lot of good effort on your side to make me take you back”, he said. His slick voice and overconfidence almost made her throw up. She had finished packing and regretted it that she didn’t have her father come up with her.  
She went past him and rushed to the front door, but he caught up with her in the hall. Oscar grabbed her arm with a tight grip and pulled her around again. Maggie wanted to say something, but she just stared at him in shock. “Hands off my daughter, you rat”, Harold stepped in behind his daughter. “Or what?”, Oscar asked with a stupid grin, but didn’t let go of her arm. “Or I call the police. I think you’ve got two or three things to sort out with them anyways. They will be glad to talk to you”, Harold said without a wince. Oscar hesitated, but Maggie could see his mask crumbling. He finally let go and she immediately got out of the flat, her father right behind her. “You will hear from me. This is not over, Maggie. IT’S NOT OVER!”, Oscar screamed behind them.  
Down at the car she immediately hugged him. “Oh my god, daddy”, she said and shivered. “I’m here, honey bee”, he said and caressed her hair. The use of her old nickname made her cry. She had missed her father so much. “Come on, let’s drive back home”, he said and put her in his car. He put the bag in the back of his car and then sat down on the driver’s seat. “What about the crib and high-chair and…”, she began in tears. “Don’t worry about it. We buy everything new”, her father reassured her. Through all the tears she still managed to smile.  
When they drove off, Maggie could see Oscar coming out of the building through the side mirror of the car. He screamed something towards the car, but she couldn’t hear him, but she got the strange feeling that this wasn’t the last she had seen of him.

Two days later Maggie was sitting by the window in the living room, watching the raindrops run down the window pain, just like she used to as a child. Her mother walked in and watched her daughter for a few moments. She was still sad and was getting even sadder every day. She really missed that Benedict-guy. “Maggie, sweetie”, she said and handed her a cup of tea. Sue sat down next to her and gave her that motherly “what’s up” face. “I’m okay”, Maggie said and smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “You miss him”, her mother said and it wasn’t a question. Maggie looked at her and took and sip of her cup before she answered her. “Kind of, but it’s ridiculous. I’ve only known him for what? 4 days? I’ve been home longer”, Maggie quickly explained. “It doesn’t matter how long you have known him, you have already fallen for him”, Sue said. “Have you two...”, she asked and wiggled her head. “What? No! Muhum”, Maggie pulled a face and shook her head. “Just asking…that would explain a lot”, Sue mumbled and took a sip of her cup. “No, Mum, I did not sleep with Benedict”, Maggie stated and emptied her cup then put it aside. “But you fell in love with him and now you miss him and you feel awful and I can’t stand seeing you like this, so when are you going back?”, Sue pelted her with questions. Maggie looked at her with big eyes, she didn’t know what to say to this…and what question to answer first. But she didn’t have to because at that moment, her father and Wallace returned from grocery shopping.  
“We’re back”, Harold announced and stepped in with Wallace on his right arm and a bag of food in his left hand. Maggie was glad to get out of this pile of questions her mother has just laid on her. “Hey Wally, was it fun going shopping with grandpa?”, she said and her father handed her Wallace. “I help you get this in the kitchen”, Sue said and took the bag from her husband and walked into the kitchen, Harold followed her.  
Maggie was just about to sit down with her little boy to play as the doorbell rung. “I’ll get it”, Maggie called through the house and got up to see who’s at the door. “Coming”, she said loudly, while walking towards the door and opened it. As she looked up, her jaw dropped and her eyes got big. “Wallace forgot that at my house and I thought I’ll bring it by…I probably could have sent it by post, but I thought…”, Benedict stuttered his way through his little “why I’m here”-speech, but interrupted by Maggie throwing herself in his arms. She buried her head at his neck and wrapped her arms tight around his chest. He immediately closed his arms around her and pressed her against him. “Oh Ben”, she cried at his chest and her whole body was shaking. Benedict also felt tears rushing to his eyes.  
“Benny!” Both heard a high voice behind them in the door. When Maggie let go of Benedict, they found Wallace standing in the door with the brightest smile on his face. “Hey champ, look what I brought you”, Benedict quickly wiped the tears away and with two quick steps he was with Wallace and picked him up. He pressed the little boy against him and breathed in his baby scent. He hadn’t realized until now HOW MUCH he had missed him.  
“What is going on out here? Is Wallace with you?”, Sue appeared in the door and found two grown-ups crying and a little boy smiling brighter than on Christmas morning. “Okay, what is going on out here?”, Sue now said in a serious tone and crossed her arms in front of her chest. “Mum”, Maggie said and wiped her eyes. “This is Benedict”, she introduced him. At that moment, her father stepped into the picture, right behind his wife. “Christ Sue, what did you do?”, he hissed to her. “Nothing!”, she said indignantly and turned around to him. “Sue I swear to god, if you called him, I…”, Harold whispered upset. Maggie and Benedict watched them quietly, but irritated. “No, I haven’t and now shut up!”, Sue hissed at her husband and then turned back around. “Why don’t we all go inside, huh?”, she said and waved them to the entrance of the house.  
They all sat down in the living room and Wallace refused to sit anywhere else than Benedict’s lap, pressing the giraffe against his heart. “Here’s your tea, Benedict”, Sue said and handed him the cup, then sat down in her favourite chair. An awkward silence came over the room and everybody just looked at their tea cups in their hands. The only thing you could hear was the babbling sound from Wallace “talking” to his giraffe.  
“Okay, enough with that nonsense. Why are you here? Did Maggie call you?”, Harold broke the silence, sick of the awkwardness. “Dad please, be nice. He did nothing wrong”, Maggie spoke up. “I know that. I just wanted to know what took him so long to get here”, Harold said and winked at his daughter. “How did you even get our address? I don’t recall telling you”, Maggie asked Benedict. He felt like being in an interrogation. All those questions he tried to prepare answers to on his flight here. “First of all, I want to apologize for coming here without further notice, but I wanted it to be a surprise. And for the address, I got some people”, Benedict winked at Maggie, what made her blush and smile. “Benedict, we are really glad that you’re here. Delighted to finally meet the man that took such good care of our daughter and grandson”, Sue said and tried to smile as nice and calming as possible, Harold sure wasn’t going to. “But seriously, Benedict, what took you so long?”, Sue asked and everybody looked at her surprised. “Oh, come on, everybody wants to know”, Sue defended herself.  
“To be honest, I had some things to sort out, my feelings to be exact, and some things to take care of. But I can assure you, as soon as you two have left I have felt such a big hole in my chest and my house seemed more empty and lonely than usual. I know it sounds so crazy because we don’t know each other for long, but I really miss you two”, Benedict ended his little speech with grabbing Maggie’s hand and looking deep into her eyes. Sue eyes wandered between her daughter, the man that was in love with her and her husband, who was rolling his eyes. She slightly hit him on his arm to make him stop.  
“So you came all the way to give Wally his giraffe back and to tell Maggie that you miss her? Oh, that’s so romantic”, Sue said and got sentimental. “And to tell her…that I love her”, Benedict added and Maggie’s heart stopped for a second. “No shit, Sherlock”, Harold said. “Harold!”, Sue called out. “Sorry, but I always wanted to say that. But in all seriousness, you’re able to see that you love her a mile against the wind and she’s no better”, Harold said. “DAD!” “HAROLD!” Maggie and Sue called out together. “What now?”, Harold asked confused. “Maybe she would like to tell him herself”, Sue whispered upset. “Mum!”, Maggie said with big eyes. “Okay, that’s enough. Ben, would you like to go outside?”, Maggie asked and got up. “Oh, okay”, Benedict said and also got up, Wallace still in his arms. “Wally will stay here with granny and grandpa, okay?”, Maggie said and gave Wallace to her mother. He protested loudly and tried to hold on to her shirt, but she managed to get him off. “Benny and I will just be outside and talk about some grown-up stuff”, Maggie tried to explain to her son and somehow it worked a little bit. “We will be back soon”, Benedict said and kissed Wallace on the head. Then he followed Maggie outside in the garden.  
“Was your mother right?”, he asked after a few moments of silence. “About what?”, she asked, but knew exactly what he was talking about. She just needed a few more seconds to think. “Oh, come on, you know what I’m talking about”, Benedict said and slowly walked towards her. “Was my dad right about you?”, she asked back. “I asked you first”, he smiled and reached out to her. She hesitated for a second, then put her hand in his and he pulled her close. “I love you, Maggie, and I can’t imagine my life without you anymore”, he said and held her tight. She looked up right into his piercing blue eyes and she could actually see the love in them. “I love you too, Benedict”, she said and as soon as she said it out loud, she knew it was true. “You’re the best thing that ever happened to me since the birth of Wallace”, she talked quickly because she was so excited. Benedict gave her the most beautiful smile she had ever seen and then finally he kissed her. A kiss of true love.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this is the last chapter of Wall-e. I hope you enjoyed the story =)
> 
> I would be really thankful for some comments from you at the end of the story =)
> 
> Enjoy!

“I can’t believe I’m actually doing this”, Maggie said while the plane took off and Benedict right next to her side. Wallace was strapped on to Benedict’s belt with the giraffe in his hands. Benedict took Maggie’s hand in his and pressed it slightly. “Don’t worry, I’m nervous too…a good nervous”, he corrected himself after seeing the frightened look on her face. “I’m just nervous to hear what you have to say to what I have prepared for the two of you at home”, he said and the way he said home made her smile. It really felt like coming home.  
Back at his house in Hampstead, as soon as she put Wallace down, he ran into the living room and climbed onto the couch. “I can’t believe that just 24 hours ago, I was sitting in my parents’ house, being all miserable, although I had fixed the problems with my parents. But the only thing I could think about was you and that you weren’t there”, she said and wrapped her arms around his neck. He put his arms around her waist and pulled her close. “I’m here now and I wasn’t inactive while you two were gone. That’s what I want to show you, come on”, he said and went into the living room to get Wallace. “Benny, where Wall-e?”, Wallace asked and pointed to the TV. “Later, champ. First I want to show you something”, he said and picked up Wally. Maggie followed the two men upstairs and Benedict went straight to the guest room. She kind of thought she could sleep in his bed from now on and was a bit disappointed.  
“Welcome to your new room, Wallace”, Benedict said and opened the door. Maggie couldn’t believe what she saw. The room looked nothing like it did when she left 5 days ago. All the walls were painted in a light blue. The room was filled with brand new furniture in a light brown and white. But the big eye-catcher of the room was the big painting above the crib, right where the bed was placed before. It looked like a giant Wall-e with the little plant in his robot hands was watching over Wallace when he would sleep in there. “Wall-e!”, Wallace yelled out and smiled from one ear to the other. He stretched out his little arms towards the picture. Benedict went over to the crib and put Wallace in. Right there, he also found a stuffed Wall-e puppet.  
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41ClHWFzq6L._SY300_.jpg)   
Wallace grabbed it and pressed it against his chest. “And forgotten is the giraffe”, Benedict said laughing and turned around to Maggie, who was still standing in the door with tears in her eyes. She looked at him with big eyes. “You did all that for Wallace?”, she almost whispered, her voice was shaky. “I put it all on one card, prepared the room and flew over to talk to you. I really hoped that you would come back with me, so that I can show you two that room. I can’t believe that you’re actually standing here”, he went over to her and pulled her into a long kiss. “Does that all convince you that I really mean it?”, he said after pulling out of the kiss. “I believed you when you showed up at my parents’ house, but this all makes me a 1000% sure”, she smiled and kissed him again.  
“And where exactly do I sleep?”, she asked flirty. “I’ll show you later”, Benedict winked at her and kissed her again.  
When they went back down, Wallace still holding on to his stuffed Wall-e. Benedict showed them some of the other stuff he had bought for Wallace. A high chair in the dining area, a playpen in the living room and a cupboard filled with baby food. He had also bought tons of diapers which he had stuffed in the changing table in Wallace’s room and the bathroom.  
Downstairs, Benedict put Wallace in his new playpen while something caught Maggie’s attention by the picture frames. She grabbed the frame with the picture of her and Wallace and picked it up. “Oh, you found it. Thanks for leaving it on my laptop”, Benedict appeared behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. When Maggie turned around to face him, she again had tears in her eyes. “How come you either cry or say ’Thank you’ all the time you’re in this house?”, he asked smiling and wiped away her tears. “Oh, shut up”, Maggie playful hit him on his chest and then kissed him. She felt so happy right now and Wallace himself was on cloud nine with his new Wall-e toy and especially with the room.

Meanwhile, Oscar arrived at Heathrow airport. He had cashed in some favours from some “friends” and had enough money for the flight. He was not about to take the whole “going off to London to get a better life with a movie star”-thing Maggie had pulled on him. Nobody left Oscar Wood standing like this.  
Through some contacts, he had found out in what area that actor lived she had took off with. He just had to knock at some doors until he reached his destination. It was actually Maggie that opened the door. “Oscar, how did you get here?”, she asked surprised and scared. “I told you it’s not over”, he said and had the meanest look on his face that Maggie had ever seen. “You owe me money”, Oscar said. “What?! If anything then it’s you that ows me money…and quite a lot. All the time I paid your rent and kept your flat clean. You exploited me!”, Maggie screamed at him. “What is going on here?”, Benedict appeared in the hall and looked over Maggie’s shoulder. He didn’t know who the man was.  
“So this is him? Well, you had better taste. You’re just fucking him for his money, you little whore. Did you manage to get pregnant again to keep him around?”, said Oscar with a mean ton in his voice. “Watch your mouth, you bastard!”, Benedict stepped in front of Maggie and pushed her behind him. She stumbled back a few steps. This confrontation got her lightheaded. “Or what, you prick?”, Oscar got a step closer to Benedict. They were almost the same height; Benedict was just a few inches taller. Benedict swung back his arm and punched Oscar right in his face. He hit him so hard that Oscar stumbled back and fell down. Benedict shook his hurt hand and turned to Maggie who starred at both of them in shock. “Finally, all the fight scenes come in handy”, he said with a crooked smile. Wallace followed the situation from his playpen. He had never liked the mean man mommy was living with, but Benny on the other hand was funny and nice and played with him a lot.  
“Go now and never let me see your face again or I call the police. I’m sure a person like you has some other things to sort out with them”, Benedict said to him with a stable and powerful voice. Oscar looked up and Benedict could actually see fear in his eyes. “Now take off, you filthy bastard!”, Benedict screamed and slammed the door shut. Maggie still looked at him with big eyes. “Please excuse my choice of words, I got a bit lost here”, Benedict apologized. “I think I never wanted you more”, Maggie said and with two quick steps, she was in his arms and her lips were on his. “I love you so much”, she mumbled at his lips between kisses. “I love you two”, Benedict mumbled in response. Wally covered his eyes with his hands. Mummy and Benny did such weird things sometimes.

2 years later...

“It’s here, Harold”, Sue came into the living room, all excited and jittery. She sat down on the couch and quickly pulled open the envelope. She got out the expensive paper card. “Harold, listen up: Benedict Timothy Carlton Cumberbatch and his wife Margret Ann Cumberbatch, born Wallcott would like to announce the birth of their daughter Annabelle Sue Wanda Cumberbatch on May, the 15th at 9:05 am. Mother and daughter are doing well and the now big brother Wallace Benedict Bradley Cumberbatch is over the moon with joy over his new sister”, Sue read out loud and tears rushed to her eyes. “I still don’t get why she gave up a good name like Wallcott. She never had to spell the name out to someone”, Harold said grumpily. “Oh, Harold. Will you just get over yourself! Look at that cute picture of the four of them”, Sue said, got up and walked over to her husband. She then sat down on the armrest of Harold’s chair. “Yes, little Annabelle is cute”, Harold finally admitted and a proud grandfather smile appeared on his face.  
Sue remembered when she got the call in the middle of the night two weeks ago. Ben was so scared and excited and SOOO overwhelmed with the situation when he called. Sue had immediately booked a flight for her husband and herself and they arrived even before the little girl did. They even met up with Benedict’s parents at the parking space and the two women stormed in, demanded to know in which room their grandchild would be born. When they finally got to the room, they had to wait outside. That’s when Sue found out Wanda was a very impatient lady. “Why does it take them so long? Benedict was born in a second”, Wanda had said while walking up and down the aisle. “Well, it wasn’t a second”, her husband Timothy intervened. “Oh, you know what I mean. I’m waiting here for hours now”, she replied. “We all are”, Harold stated, who started to get annoyed with her. He just didn’t want to confess that he was actually more nervous and frightened than anybody here combined.  
That’s when a cry of a newborn cut through the silence. Everyone of the four, now to be, grandparents looked up. A few moments later, Benedict stepped out of the room with a little bundle in his arms. He looked totally exhausted, but happy. “She’s here”, he said with tears in his eyes and presented his parents and parents-in-law his newborn daughter.  
Sue ended her memory of that day with a smile and got up. She went straight to the desk with the computer and logged in.  
“Just because they said you can come by any time doesn’t mean you should“, Harold said to Sue, when she clicked her way through the internet, booking another flight or planning the car route to London, as she always did. “I’m not looking for flights, Harold”, she replied happily. Harold sensed something even worse. “Sue, Darling, what are you doing?”, he said, sat up and turned to his wife. “I’m looking for houses”, she announced, her eyes fixed on the screen, with a winning smile on her face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Are you happy with the ending? =)


End file.
